Morning After
by GennaJoy
Summary: He's not really her husband, but she'll defend him anyway!


**This follows right on from the last episode!**

She calls him the next morning at 10 am, not too early, not too late.

The phone rings four times before he answers, and she can tell he has caller id because he answers the phone with a familiar "Hey."

She rolls her eyes at the facial expression she already knows he's going to make, "you were right," she tells him, and she hears a laugh come through the phone, "he was, a bit odd," she admits.

He's still sort of chortling when he replies, "just a bit?" because he knows that really it must have been terrible.

"Fine, it was so bad, stop laughing, it was the most awkwardly uncomfortable evening, because he was a complete weirdo!" she lets out, and he dissipates into laughter, "shut up," she chastises down the line, but there is a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, because admittedly it's nice that he sees the funny side of it.

"What are you doing now?" he asks as his laughter stops, though she can still hear the glib cheeriness in his voice.

She looks up at what she is indeed doing, having gone into total auto pilot while she called, "umm, folding laundry," she answers, "why?"

"Wanna go out for coffee?" he asks as if it's the most casual request ever, "you can give me all the details, and then we can work out what to avoid next time," he laughs.

She rolls her eyes, but agrees, "Sure, I have to be at work at midday though," she gives him some warning.

"That's fine, I don't take that long to drink a cup of coffee," he teases, "see you in 20," he tells her and gives her a place to meet that is considerately near the hospital.

He's sitting in the café, having pulled out a book, when he hears a man call out to him "Henry?" he knows who it is before he even looks up. He gives a curt smile to the man making his way over and puts down the book.

The man, Dale, indicates to the other chair at his table as if to ask if it's ok to sit down, but doesn't really wait for conformation before he does. It's awkward that they don't have a conversation to just launch straight into, because there was a time when he couldn't be awkward with Dale, because they had been best friends. Best friends right up until Dale had gotten married, Henry wasn't stupid, he knew that a wife trumped friends, even if those friends were kind of dying, but Dale's wife had made sure that Henry knew he was a burden, and that Dale knew he didn't _deserve_ to be burdened, and she had chipped away steadily at their friendship until Dale was just never seen or heard from, apparently til now.

"So how've you been?" Henry asks, not really interested in awkward silence.

"Good, good, we've just moved house actually, so that's been interesting," Dale mentions, trying his best to sound casual about the unexpected run in, but there's a looming feeling of guilt as he opens his mouth to ask the question he knows he has to, and knows will be hard to hear answered, "How are you going?"

"Good," Henry nods, "better lately actually," he said, a small buzz of pride running through him at the knowledge he's now tumour free, and he's done it all without the support of the guy sitting across from him.

"Really?" Dale's face reflects genuine happiness, "that's great," he admits, with a hint of remorse in his voice.

It was at this moment that Teddy finally wandered into the café, spotting Henry before he saw her, she made her way over to him, doing her best to read the scene before her, "hey," she greets when she gets to him, standing next to his seat at the table, he looks up, pleased to see her.

"Hi," he smiles up at her, taking a moment to realise that he should make introductions, "oh, um, Teddy, this is Dale, Dale this is Teddy," he indicates back, "Dale is the friend I that I told you about," he mentions, hoping she'll remember the story he's told her before and understand his mild discomfort.

"Oh, of course," she knows straight away, and she does her best not to sound bitchy as she turns to Dale to shake his hand. "It's nice to meet you," she says civilly, before turning her attention back to Henry, "are you guys catching up?" she asks, unsure about whether to leave them be or to stay.

"Yeah actually," Dale intercepts the question, clearly a little amused to see his former mate out with a woman, "I was just getting the good news about Henrys health, it's good to hear man," he directs back across the table.

"Good health?" Teddy asks her faux spouse, with a tone of incredulousness, and glare that reads; _why are you letting this guy feel better about being a crappy friend?_ "I mean I suppose you could say that," she admits cavalierly, "he's tumour free at the moment, but life isn't exactly a walk in the park when you've just had a kidney and most of your pancreas removed," she enjoys the look of shock and concern that spreads across Dales face, a little too much, so she goes on. "I mean he can't play any recreational sports anymore, or really drink alcohol, he's insulin dependent diabetic, so everything he eats has to be planned and thought through, and he's now at risk of a whole bunch of new health problems, which obviously for some people would just be game over really, but you're right," she looks down and smiles at Henry. "He's a strong guy, and he's smart so he looks after himself, and tumour free is always a good thing, even if he's free of a few organs too, if anyone can cope with hardship its Henry, right?" she boasts.

She feels his hand come to rest behind her knee, as if to give her a silent thank you, and she turns to smile at him proudly, forgetting for a moment that there's another person with them, until he starts talking again, "yeah I guess so," he admits, "got yourself a pretty good supporter," Dale jokes, indicating to Teddy.

She just can't help herself, because the turd has this look on his face that says he clearly thinks he's gotten off scot free, "well I should hope so," she gives him a fake smile, "I mean I'm his wife," she tells him, and she's glad to see that look appear back on his face. The look of shock, that shows he realises he's an ass for having disappeared, because he didn't even know his friend got married. She doesn't give him a chance to rebound, she turns back to her husband with a smile "I'm going to go order," she tells him, "Do you want me to get yours too?"

"Uh, no I'll come with you," and he excuses himself from what is now Dale's table, wraps an arm around her shoulder and walks with her over to the counter, "look at you," he laughs, "defending my honour," he gives her a squeeze.

"Well I should," she jokes, "I mean I'm your wife."

As they wait for their coffees to be made he turns back to her and smiles mischievously as he says, "Hey, you know what's cool?" she shrugs in response, "my wife is hotter than his wife!"

She laughs, but there is a slight blush on her cheeks.

**Please review and tell me if you want me to continue! I enjoy writing multi-chapter things, but only if people are actually reading them, otherwise I'm happier just to write one-shots when the inspiration strikes!**


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